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Genre:
Rap
Release Date: 08/02/2005
Apart from their 2001 installment in
Universal's ongoing
20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection series,
Public Enemy had not been given a career compilation prior to 2005's
Power to the People and the Beats: Public Enemy's Greatest Hits. The 2001 comp overlooked such major cuts as
"Rebel Without a Pause" and
"Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos," plus it was sequenced in a non-chronological order.
Power to the People rights those two wrongs by including all of
PE's major songs from 1987-1998 -- which doesn't mean it's all their best music, of course -- presented in a chronological fashion, beginning with
"You're Gonna Get Yours" and ending with
"He Got Game." As such, it provides not only a useful summary of their groundbreaking work, it's also a bracing, exciting listen in its own right. Of course, each individual
Public Enemy release recorded during these ten years is worth hearing -- especially 1988's
It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back and 1990's
Fear of a Black Planet, which are two of the great works of art of the 20th century -- but for those who want a quick introduction to the greatest
hip-hop group of all time, this fits the bill perfectly.
~Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
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